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Originally Posted by
MeinPanzer
Sure, it would take some effort, just like fighting on horseback without stirrups and with only a basic saddle in a heavy panoply. That doesn't mean it wasn't done, or wasn't commonplace.
Any source stating that the nature or the purpose of this armour is unclear is not very informative. It's obvious from examining other parallels that such armour would be worn by a charioteer, who had the benefit of not having to run around on the battlefield; who would be rich enough to afford it; and who, not holding a shield, would need the benefit of a heavy panoply for maximum protection. Besides, I am curious to hear what these sources state could be other uses for such armour; heavy infantrymen? Or do they take the usual cop-out and declare it "ritual armour"?
"Chariots" by Arthur Cotterell states the following (chapter 4, pages 112-113):
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Because the Dendra equipment is far too heavy and unwieldy for a foot soldier, some scholars believe its wearer would have stood in a chariot. But again the weight and cumbersomeness of the armour could not but have been a serious liability in a fast-moving chariot. Unlike the armoured medieval knight, the Dendra warrior was not seated on a high saddle with his legs gripping the sides of a horse, and his feet placed safely in stirrups: instead, if an archer never accompanied the charioteer, he was trying to maintain his balance while thrusting sideways with a two-handed spear.
The argument for the Dendra armour belonging to a chariot warrior is unconvincing. Apart from the weight problem, there are records of lighter corselets more suited to this purpose, similar to the protection Menelaus was lucky enough to be wearing at Troy. Most telling of all, however, is the narrative of the Iliad, for Pandarus [an Eastern bowman in Trojan service who became convinced of the uselessness of his bow, and joined Aeneas on his chariot] did not fight from Aeneas' chariot as a thrusting spearman. On the contrary, he threw a javelin at Diomedes, a weapon used in addition to the bow by the Egyptians in their chariots. Pandarus' sudden death after the failure of this throw may well have seemed just to Homes, since the javelin as well as the arrow harmed heroes at an unfair distance, especially when launched from a speeding chariot.
There is no further discussion of the Dendra armour's use. I thought I also saw a mention of it in Hans van Wees' "Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities", but I cannot find it in the index, and the book does not deal with warfare from before Homer's time.